


Born to Run

by AlainaCorrigan



Series: Inspired by Songs [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), F/M, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:21:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlainaCorrigan/pseuds/AlainaCorrigan
Summary: Baby this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap, it's a suicide rap; we gotta get out while we're young. 'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan and have been listening to a lot of his music recently. Which resulted in me writing this one-shot. I offer no apologies for the cheesy ending. 
> 
> Talk hockey with me here: https://fullstrengthhearts.tumblr.com/
> 
> If you got here by googling yourself, back out now  
> -Shan

Being stuck isn’t fun. It’s actually Noah’s biggest fear. He doesn’t want to be stuck in the same town forever, never changing and never achieving more. He’s seen it happen to people, they come home from college every summer and work their old high school jobs and then they move back after graduation and never seem to get on their feet enough to move out and achieve more. Of course, there are people who move out. Who leave town and become successful. Noah wants to be like them, not like the majority of people who never leave. He doesn’t want to be one of those guys that ride around town and talk about the glory days like he’s still cool, trying to make it seem like he’s the big man in town. He doesn’t want to be pretending for the rest of his life. Pretending to be cool, pretending to be successful, pretending to be happy. He wants the real versions of that. 

Noah’s sitting on his roof, well his parent’s roof. He can see his street and the tops of the houses on the streets near his. From up here, things seem peaceful. Norwood almost looks like a place he’d want to spend the rest of his life in. 

But Noah knows better. This town is a death trap, it’ll hold on and not let you go until you’re old and gray. And that’s the last thing he wants. He’s 18, he’s been itching to get out of town for a while. He’s got college acceptance letters on his desk, but what he wants is to leave Norwood and never come back. He’s wrapping up his senior year of high school and wants out. His parents can come to him if they want to see him. As far as he’s concerned, he’s an adult and can get the hell out of here and never look back. Get away from the idiots who try to be tough and cool and just run. Pack up the car and go. He’s got a plan. Pack up the car, grab his guitar, his girl, and go. 

His phone buzzes, interrupting his train of thought. He picks it up and flicks open the text. Speak of the devil and she shall text, it appears. Jack’s sent him a question mark. He sends back ‘roof’ before putting his phone down again. She’ll be over in two minutes and join him on the roof. Just in time for sunset. Noah leans back against the slope of the roof and closes his eyes, letting the sun hit his face and trying to relax. Ever since he turned 18 in January, there’s been adrenaline pumping through his blood, screaming to leave Norwood and never look back. He’d had to finish school, it was the deal he struck with his parents. Or well, his dad. His dad was making him finish high school and then he could do whatever he wanted. Free. His mom begged him to consider staying, to come back for summers and not just disappear. The best he could do was promise to not totally disappear. He could call home, text him mom every once in awhile. He just wanted out from under his dad’s roof and away from Norwood. 

“Hey Hanny.” Noah sat up to see Jack Eichel climbing out of his bedroom window and onto the roof. She’s a vision in the sunlight, curly hair framing her face and her muscular frame creating the perfect silhouette. Perfect. God, it’s not a word Noah uses often but it describes Jack Eichel well. She’s also a force of nature. Strong lines, hard edges, and a will like no other. Jack Eichel will accomplish everything she’s ever wanted and Noah will never doubt her. Or bet against her. Or try to stop her. 

Which makes asking her to run away from Norwood with him very hard. Jack’s planning on going to BU. She will accomplish things. Most likely. Unless something goes horribly wrong. Noah, well, he’s got his acceptance letters. He’s thinking about BC. Which isn’t far from BU. Splitting an apartment, halfway between the two, wouldn’t be hard. Getting Jack to agree could be hard. He knows that she doesn’t want to stay here much longer either. But she might not be too keen on running away and quite literally never looking back. For as much as she doesn’t want to stay in Norwood, she has stronger ties to her family and the town. Noah couldn’t care less about Norwood.

He takes a deep breath though. He can’t do this alone. But he can’t do it with Jack as his best friend either. He...well, he’d need her to be something more. He wants her to be something more, to be his girlfriend. Noah’s been half in-love with Jack for most of his life and he’d like to run away to Boston with her. With his arm around her shoulders, kissing her. That’d be the way to leave town. “Jack, I’ve got something to tell you.” 

She turns towards him, the last bits of sunlight streaming through her curls. “Yeah Hanny?”

“I gotta get out of Norwood. After graduation, I’ve got to get out of this town. I can’t pretend to like it here anymore. And well,” he takes a breath and looks Jack in the eye, “I can’t do this without you. Wanna run with me?”

Jack’s quiet for a moment. She bites her lip, but doesn’t break Noah’s gaze. “You know I’m planning to go to BU-”

“I’ll accept BC’s offer. We can split an apartment between the campuses.”

“And I’m living in a dorm next year-”

“I can dorm for a year and then we can get the apartment.”

“Hanny, I had a plan. Stay here for the summer, work and save up money and then go to Boston,” Jack says. 

“I know Jack. But I’m saying I’ve got a bit of money saved up. And a friend in Boston we can text for a place to stay. Thatcher’s pretty cool and would let us use the apartment for the summer before we had to move into dorms. And we can save up money during the rest of the school year. Jack, I’d do anything to run away with you,” Noah explains. Jack tilts her head and looks at him. “I can’t stay here past graduation. This town, it sucks the life out of you and all of a sudden you’re too stuck to leave. I can’t do that. I can’t get stuck here. Not with my dad breathing down my neck to be a man and pick a real career. And I can’t do this alone. You’re my best friend Jack, but you gotta know how much I love you. I wanna guard your dreams and protect you and cheer you on. I can’t do this without you, but you’ve gotta know I love you.”

Shit. Well, no taking that back. Noah’s put it all on the line and Jack is just quiet. She’s looked away from him, is staring at the sunset. His heart is pounding in his chest. He can’t believe he did that. Laying things out like that, emotions and all, isn’t his style. Noah’s got a bit of a reputation as a tough guy, or well a musically-inclined couldn’t-give-a-shit-about-anything guy. That describes it a bit better. Still, he’s not a guy that pours his heart out to girls he’s known his whole life. 

After a minute, Jack responds. “Well, took you long enough to admit it Hanny.” He whips his head up and meets her eyes. Her blue eyes, soft now with love. He usually only sees her eyes like that when she’s looking at a dog or a young girl, telling her she can do whatever she wants. Having that level of emotion trained on him is overwhelming. In a good way though. Noah feels overwhelmed, but calm at the same time. Like things make sense. “Noah, we gotta hash out some details but fuck, yes I’ll run away with you. Get out of this shit hole town. Get to Boston and then, who knows. But god, yes, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“You mean it? We can pack the car up before graduation and then just go. Leave that night or early the next morning and just fucking drive. Run away and never look back.” Noah can’t believe this is happening. Jack’s agreeing to go with him. And...maybe admitting she loves him? Her eyes are still trained on him, ablaze with love.

“God that sounds great,” Jack says as she scoots closer to him. “You and me and the open road. Endless possibilities in Boston and no one getting stuck in a godforsaken small town.” She’s next to him, her leg pressed against his. Her hand is high on his thigh. Noah’s brain is going foggy, enveloped by her scent. Its intoxicating. “And Noah.” His first name on her lips pulls his brain out of the fog and he focuses on her eyes. “I, I love you too. Wouldn’t say yes if I didn’t. Wouldn’t do this either.” And then she kisses him. It’s not fireworks going off, it’s like a bomb exploding. Her lips against his, it’s everything Noah’s dreamed of. They feel soft, but at the same time rough. The kiss isn’t soft, it’s hard like Jack herself. It’s rough and she’s biting at his lips. Noah parts them for her, lets her lick into his mouth. God, it’s perfect. His mind is empty and full at the same time, thinking only of her and how this is the best kiss of his life. It’s ending too soon, and Noah leans forward to chase Jack’s lips. She giggles and he stops, opens his eyes. Jack’s biting her lip, a blush on her cheeks and her eyes are blazing. They’re trained on him, focused and sharp. “We’re doing this, right? Getting out of here?”

Noah nods, swallowing and finding his voice again. “Yup. You and me and the car. We’ll start saving, we can add to what I’ve already got saved up. We’ll drive the car to Thatcher’s place after graduation and live there for the summer, get set up in Boston and then dorm freshman year. We can find an apartment for the summer and next year but maybe drive the coast next summer. Or this summer. Anything to get out of here.” Jack nods, and Noah can see how much she wants this. “We’ll drive til we drop, go as far as we need to and we’ll never look back.”

“God, Noah it sounds perfect. Just getting out of here, leaving this place in the dust. Not getting stuck. It’s perfect.”

Noah kisses her again, not being able to resist now that he’s had that first taste. They’re gonna do it. They’re gonna get out of Norwood and never come back. “Of course it’s perfect. Tramps like us baby, we were born to run.”


End file.
